US20130042850A1

US20130042850A1 - Bb peashooter

Info

Publication number: US20130042850A1
Application number: US13/211,919
Authority: US
Inventors: Ronald P. Forster
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-08-17
Filing date: 2011-08-17
Publication date: 2013-02-21

Abstract

A kit for shooting a BB through a peashooter, comprising a tubular peashooter with an opening in the tube that has an opening diameter, inner and outer walls, a tube thickness, and a tube length, and a BB with a BB diameter.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to peashooters, and in particular, to a novel projectile for use with a peashooter.

BACKGROUND

A peashooter is a toy version of a blowgun or blowpipe. It is used as follows: A projectile, usually a dried pea, seed, or spitball, is loaded into one end of a generally 8 inch tube, the other end of which is blown through forcefully by the user. The force of the air launches the projectile, which may be sent in any direction by positioning of the tube. Peashooters have long been a favorite of both children and young at heart adults, but the types of ammunition heretofore used are limited. Moreover, as most of this ammunition is irregular in shape, the trajectory of the projectile may be difficult to anticipate, making aiming difficult. Therefore there is a need for a new type of peashooter ammunition that is regular in shape and smooth.
Pea shooting is a competitive sport, notably in the United Kingdom. In such competitions, particularly the World Peashooting Championship in Witcham, Cambridgeshire, the peashooter is 12 inches long and a competition grade pea must have a diameter of no more than 5.5 mm. Anything larger than that diameter or irregular so as to exceed that measurement in some dimension will tend to stick in the peashooter. As peas are not regular, this is a common problem with that traditional ammunition. Competitors may select their ammunition within these limitations. As a smooth, regular shape with no dimples or wrinkles is preferable for straight trajectory, top competitors often choose dried maple peas, although this ammunition still suffers from some of the drawbacks mentioned above.
BB guns are another common recreational shooting device. They are a type of air gun designed to shoot BBs, which are small, usually spherical projectiles, usually used for bird hunting. Most BBs used for bird hunting are made of a metal, such as steel. Child versions of BB guns may be less powerful, and may use BBs made of less destructive material, such as plastic. Airsoft BBs, for example, are larger than most metal BBs, plastic, and are of a standard size of approximately 6 mm in diameter. They are perfectly regular and have no sharp edges.
Although perhaps visually similar, airsoft BBs used in BB guns and peas used in pea shooters are very different projectiles. Airsoft BBs are regular and uniform in their sphericity, their weight, their diameter, their density, and the hardness of their outer shell. Peas, even dried peas, will vary in every one of these metrics. This has made peas an unpredictable projectile in their use with peashooters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a BB peashooter kit for shooting BBs through a peashooter. In its most basic form, the BB peashooter kit of the present invention includes a peashooter and at least one BB.
The preferred peashooter is a 12 inch long tube, but may be between 6 and 18 inches long in some embodiments. The use of the preferred 12 inch tube over more standard 8 inch peashooters allows for better aiming as the end of the tube is further from the user's mouth so that he or she may better assess exactly where it is pointing and what angle and positioning would best aim toward the target. The tube is preferably made of a rigid plastic, but may be made of a variety of materials. The tube has an inner wall, an outer wall, and an opening. The tube's opening should fit fairly snugly around the BB of the kit so that there is only a nominal space around the BB between the BB and the inner walls of the peashooter. As discussed below, the preferred BB is approximately 0.236 inches in diameter, which is the diameter of a standard airsoft BB. The preferred tube opening is therefore preferably approximately 0.240 inches in diameter, but may be up to 0.400 inches. The tube has a thickness around the opening between the inner and outer walls of the tube that is preferably between 1 and 2 mm. The plastic that makes up the tube may be of any color and may be translucent. A logo or other writing may be included on the outside of the tube.
The preferred BB of the present invention is an airsoft BB, which is spherical and made of plastic. In some non-preferred embodiments, the BB is pointed and may be made of materials other than plastic. The preferred BB is approximately 0.236 inches in diameter but may be of any diameter so long as the diameter of the BB is less than the diameter of the opening of the tube of the kit. The preferred spherical BB is perfectly regular, so it will have a more predictable trajectory than projectiles used with peashooters heretofore. Unlike an irregular pea, a BB moving through a peashooter is like a bullet going through a gun barrel, so the BB may be shot better and at longer ranges. Additionally, the perfect roundness of the BB and the standard size of the BB within the standard size of the peashooter avoid getting ammunition stuck in the peashooter, which is a common problem with peas as ammunition.
The small difference between the diameter of the BB and the opening diameter of the tube of the peashooter that creates only a very small space between the BB and the inner wall of the peashooter is a key aspect of the present invention. As discussed above, projectiles used with peashooters in the past, such as peas, vary greatly from projectile to projectile, or from pea to pea. One pea may barely fit within the peashooter so that it may get stuck within the peashooter. The next may have a diameter half of that of the peashooter's opening so that much of the air used as a propellant goes right through the tube without being used as force for the pea. In such situations, the trajectory of the pea is very unpredictable because of the reactions between the air streams going straight through the tube and those that are used to propel the small pea. Having uniform sized BBs used with a uniform sized pea shooter eliminates such uncertainties. Moreover, with only a very small space between the BB and the inner wall of the peashooter, almost all of the force from the air is being used to create sufficient pressure behind the BB to propel the BB forcibly and predictably every time. Some space is necessary to overcome or eliminate frictional forces between the BB and the inner wall of the peashooter, but having only a small space is sufficient for this while also providing the benefits discussed above.
In use, a kit user places a BB in his or her mouth. The kit user acquires a target. The user aims the peashooter in the direction of the target. The user then blows through the peashooter in the aim position, propelling the BB from the user's mouth, through the peashooter, and toward the target. The kit might also be used by simply placing a BB within the tube, aiming, and blowing through the tube, without placing the BB in the user's mouth. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there are several ways in which the peashooter kit may be used to project the BB from the peashooter.
The BB peashooter kit of the present invention can be used as a precision shooting instrument that may be used in competitions. The uniformity and resultant predictability of the elements of the kit allow peashooting to become an act of skill, rather than just luck. Devotees may practice peashooting with the BB peashooter kit of the present invention so as to learn the intricacies of the combination of the peashooter and BBs and aiming techniques therewith. The inventor envisions competitions using the kit where everyone is on a level playing field as far as equipment. Every competitor will use the kit of the present invention, so that no competitor is using irregular or non-uniform elements that have made peashooting so unpredictable historically.
The BB peashooter kit of the present invention may be used for promotional events and marketing. Like the competitions described above, the inventor also envisions promotional events using BB peashooter kits of the present invention. A local company may sponsor “BB peashooting” night at a local bar, for example. The local company could display their logo on the peashooter, as described above. Every person who comes in the bar would be handed a BB peashooter kit upon entering and then have an evening of fun peashooting BBs at other patrons. Such events could also be at company picnics, children's parties, and field days, for example. These aspects of the present invention are not meant to be exclusive and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a blowup perspective view of the kit of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a cutaway view along the length of the peashooter of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is an exploded view of an end of the peashooter of the present invention with a BB of the present invention disposed therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, kit 10 of the present invention is shown. This rendering is not to scale. For clarity, opening diameter 20 and BB diameter 24 are shown large enough that it is unwieldy to show length 22 of tube 16 to scale. Kit 10 includes peashooter 12 and at least one BB 14. Peashooter 12 is made up of a plastic tube 16. Tube 16 has opening 18 around which is tube thickness 28. Tube thickness 28 is preferably between 1 and 2 mm. Opening 18 has opening diameter 20 and tube 16 has length 22. Opening diameter 20 is preferably 0.240 inches, but may range from any diameter greater than BB diameter 24, as discussed below, to 0.400 inches. Length 22 of tube 16 is preferably 12 inches, but may range between 6 and 18 inches. Logo 26 may be disposed upon tube 16.
BB 14 has BB diameter 24, which is always less than opening diameter 20. Preferred BB diameter 24 is 0.236 inches, but may be any diameter so long as it is less than opening diameter 20. BB diameter 24 is preferably not very much less than opening diameter 20, however, because the greater the difference between BB diameter 24 and opening diameter 20, the more air is wasted when a user of kit 10 blows through tube 16. That is to say that the larger the space around BB 14 within tube 16, the more air is blown through tube 16 without being used to propel BB 14. The additional air dynamics within tube 16 may also affect trajectory of BB 14, thus disrupting aim.
Now referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, small space 30 is emphasized. Space 30 is the small space between BB 14 and inner wall 32 of tube 16. Outer wall 34 of tube 16 is shown as a solid line and inner wall 32 of tube 16 is shown as a dashed line. BB 14 is shown within tube 16. It is clear that space 30, although present, is nominal.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the description should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.

Claims

1. A kit for shooting a BB through a peashooter, comprising:

a peashooter comprising a tube, an opening in said tube with an opening diameter, an inner wall, an outer wall, a tube thickness, and a tube length; and

at least one BB, wherein each of said at least one BB comprises a BB diameter.

2. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tube of said peashooter is comprised of rigid plastic.

3. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tube thickness is between 1 and 2 mm.

4. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tube length is between 6 and 18 inches.

5. The kit as claimed in claim 4, wherein said tube length is 1 foot.

6. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB diameter is less than said opening diameter.

7. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said opening diameter is between 0.237 inches and 0.400 inches.

8. The kit as claimed in claim 7, wherein said opening diameter is 0.240 inches.

9. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB diameter is 0.236 inches.

10. The kit as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a space around said BB between said BB and said inner wall of said tube when said BB is disposed within said tube, wherein said space is nominal.

11. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB is an airsoft BB.

12. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB is comprised of plastic.

13. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB is spherical.

14. The kit as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a logo disposed upon said tube of said peashooter.